Staff Pick

In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, corporate intrigue, subtle psychology, explosive content, and a sensational heroine make for a high-caliber novel.Recommended by Adrienne, Powells.com

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

A murder mystery, family saga, love story, and a tale of financial intrigue wrapped into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.

Harriet Vanger, scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families, disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pieced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.

Review:

"A blockbuster story...The plot is interesting and credible but above all the heroine is splendidly original...An extraordinary book." Literary Review

Review:

"What a cracking novel! I haven't read such a stunning thriller debut for years. The way Larsson interweaves his two stories had me in thrall from beginning to end. Brilliantly written and totally gripping." Minette Walters

Review:

"This is a striking novel, full of passion, an evocative sense of place and subtle insights into venal, corrupt minds...The journalist and the hacker are ingenious creations." The Observer

Review:

"A whip-smart heroine and a hunky guy who needs her help? This sexy, addictive thriller is everything you never knew you could get from a crime novel." Glamour

Review:

"The ballyhoo is fully justified...The novel scores on every front — character, story, atmosphere, and the translation." The Times

Review:

"As vivid as bloodstains on snow." Lee Child

Review:

"One of the greatest crime-fiction novels I have ever read...As mesmerizing as it is insightful...The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a multi-layered, multi-character tale by a writer of some considerable power. Full of social conscience and compassion, with insight into the nature of moral corruption, it knocked me out...Mikael Blomkvist and his partner, the enigmatic and deeply troubled Lisbeth Salander, will soon join the pantheon of greatest crime-fiction characters that populate the genre at its apex." Shots Magazine

Review:

"An absorbing and idiosyncratic crime novel." Daily Mail

Synopsis:

In this international bestseller, a crusading journalist joins forces with a 24-year-old pierced and tattooed genius hacker to investigate the whereabouts of a woman missing from one of the wealthiest families in Sweden.

About the Author

Stieg Larsson was the editor in chief of the magazine Expo. He was a leading expert on anti-democratic, right-wing extremist organizations. He died in 2004, soon after delivering the manuscripts of the novels The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its sequels.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is translated from the Swedish by Reg Keeland.

What Our Readers Are Saying

Average customer rating based on 104 comments:

hakushaku13, April 10, 2013 (view all comments by hakushaku13)
Being a fantasy fan I usually don't really like books like this. I always found thrillers and detectives a rather boring reading. But my Mom presented me with this book on my birthday, and started to read it before me, and liked it very much. So I decided to start reading it too.

How surprised I was when realised that I can't stop reading it! I finished all three books of this series in a week. I was very impressed. The plot looks so realistic and characters so real and alive.

This book is so different from evrything that I read, but it's really awesome.

Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)

one6ylady, January 1, 2013 (view all comments by one6ylady)
Got this book as a gift in September, and went and bought the 2nd and 3rd books in the series before I had even gotten half-way through this 1st book... I knew I was going to have to read the whole series.

The book is not for those of faint heart, it gets pretty graphic at times, but the gritty realizm is what drags you into the story and makes it imperative that you keep reading to find out what happens next. The characters are an unusual mixture, but somehow, they work perfectly together. Sometimes you feel like hugging one, sometimes you want to smack them.

Such a shame the world lost this wonderful author. I can only wonder at the other great works he might have written had he lived longer.

In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, corporate intrigue, subtle psychology, explosive content, and a sensational heroine make for a high-caliber novel.

by Adrienne

"Review"
by Literary Review,
"A blockbuster story...The plot is interesting and credible but above all the heroine is splendidly original...An extraordinary book."

"Review"
by Minette Walters,
"What a cracking novel! I haven't read such a stunning thriller debut for years. The way Larsson interweaves his two stories had me in thrall from beginning to end. Brilliantly written and totally gripping."

"Review"
by The Observer,
"This is a striking novel, full of passion, an evocative sense of place and subtle insights into venal, corrupt minds...The journalist and the hacker are ingenious creations."

"Review"
by Glamour,
"A whip-smart heroine and a hunky guy who needs her help? This sexy, addictive thriller is everything you never knew you could get from a crime novel."

"Review"
by The Times,
"The ballyhoo is fully justified...The novel scores on every front — character, story, atmosphere, and the translation."

"Review"
by Lee Child,
"As vivid as bloodstains on snow."

"Review"
by Shots Magazine,
"One of the greatest crime-fiction novels I have ever read...As mesmerizing as it is insightful...The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a multi-layered, multi-character tale by a writer of some considerable power. Full of social conscience and compassion, with insight into the nature of moral corruption, it knocked me out...Mikael Blomkvist and his partner, the enigmatic and deeply troubled Lisbeth Salander, will soon join the pantheon of greatest crime-fiction characters that populate the genre at its apex."

"Review"
by Daily Mail,
"An absorbing and idiosyncratic crime novel."

"Synopsis"
by Ingram,
In this international bestseller, a crusading journalist joins forces with a 24-year-old pierced and tattooed genius hacker to investigate the whereabouts of a woman missing from one of the wealthiest families in Sweden.

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